Best The Brooklyn Kitchen Podcasts (2024)

1
Brooklyn Duo Champions Gefilte Fish 14:58

2h ago14:58

14:58

Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, is approaching on October 2 to 4.The Gefilteria is the brainchild of Brooklyn NY residents Liz Alpern and Jeffrey Yoskowitz, champions of Jewish cuisine. Their specialty: gefilte fish that far surpasses the versions that have given this dish a bad name. I interviewed the authors of The Gefilte Manifesto in 2016; tune…

1
The Legend of Bum Farto and the Florida Keys Cocaine 45:13

1d ago45:13

45:13

Something about Bum Farto, Key West’s fire chief, stunk. And it wasn’t just his red suits, bling and lime green company car. By the early 70s Florida’s farthest-flung outpost was a lawless drug enclave. And Bum was smack bang in its center. ((NOTE: This isn't just our best episode, it might be the podcast episode ever, in the history of podcasts.))…

1
Colombia's FARC Guerillas: From Revolution to the Golden Age of Cocaine w/Toby Muse 1:17:13

3d ago1:17:13

1:17:13

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia fought a guerrilla war against Colombia’s government - as well as against right wing militias and drug cartels - for over four decades before signing a peace treaty in 2016 and then dissolving in 2017, though splinter faction known as The Dissidents still prowls the jungles. As the FARC were coming up, ano…

1
Venezuela’s Cop Killing Street Gang Tren de Aragua Takes America - Or Does It? 52:30

10d ago52:30

52:30

The Tren de Aragua grew out of disastrous regime policies to give gang leaders more power in prisons. Its mysterious leader, Niño Guerrero, soon controlled an entire facility, and installed a prison bar, a nightclub—and even a zoo. More state bungling allowed the Tren to take over entire city neighbourhoods unchallenged. So when Venezuela’s economy…

1
The Westies, Psycho Killers of Hell's Kitchen and the Last of the NYC Irish Mob 57:30

17d ago57:30

57:30

In the chaos of 1970’s New York, it took a lot to shock the city. But the Westies managed to leave quite the impression. Dubbed the last of the Irish mob despite being more like an anarchic gang, they terrorized the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, garnering headlines due to their penchant for daytime hits and chopping up their victims bod…

1
Sammy the Bull, Nazis and Mormon Killers: How the Gilbert Goons Terrorized a Phoenix Suburb 46:55

24d ago46:55

46:55

This year, the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert has been rocked by the death of 16-year-old Preston Lord, at the hands of a group calling themselves the ‘Gilbert Goons,’ jocks and hicks combining forces to unleash violence on the city’s streets. The craziest thing? This happened before. And back then, the group’s godfather was none other than Sammy the Bu…

1
The 30 Year Old Billionaire Cartel Boss Playing Professional Soccer 53:51

1M ago53:51

53:51

In recent years, Sebastian Marset has emerged as the first narco kingpin out of Uruguay. He rose from a mid-level weed dealer to an international cartel boss in less than 10 years, even with half that time being spent in prison, pioneering Latin America's southern route; trafficking blow from Bolivia to Paraguay and Uruguay, and then Europe, where …

1
I Sleuth the Ultimate Dessert at the Winona Peach Festival 9:03

1M ago9:03

9:03

You can count on the month of August in Ontario to reliably bring us these things: long lines of traffic headed toward cottage country, at least one big thunderboomer of a rainstorm - and juicy, luscious Ontario peaches. I highly recommend you try my recipe for Peach Galette (pictured here). Adding a layer of almonds is a trick I learned from Jacqu…

1
The Rise and Fall of the Dark Web Fentanyl King 40:46

2M ago40:46

40:46

When Mohammed Alaa Allawi, a former US military interpreter, moved to Texas in 2012, selling weed was a side hustle. But when a company asked him to design a website, the young Iraqi soon realised his American dream was better forged online. Soon Allawi was making millions on the dark web, selling counterfeit pills with precursors from China—includ…

1
EL MAYO ARRESTED! Was he betrayed by Chapo's son?!?! 50:35

2M ago50:35

50:35

Bombshell out of Mexico, El Mayo (!!!!!) is in US federal custody after arriving on a small private plan alongside El Chapo's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez. What. The Hell. Is going on. How does the most elusive, powerful narco kingpin in Mexico's history, whose avoided arrest for decades and operated like a ghost in the shadows, end up being gift-wrap…

1
South Africa's Rampaging Murder Rate: Gangs, Corruption and State Capture 45:18

2M ago45:18

45:18

When Nelson Mandela and the ANC delivered South Africa from Apartheid in the 90s, hopes were high that the country could become a beacon of freedom and fairness. A generation later, those dreams lie in tatters. Elites have plundered state coffers to the tune of billions, mines have been taken over by illegal “chancers,” and the ghettoes of South Af…

1
The Fugitive British Gangster Instagramming His Crimes in Africa: Sam Walker 46:40

2M ago46:40

46:40

Sam Walker already had a huge rap sheet in his native Liverpool before 2018, when he took off across Europe and through the Sahara Desert into Sierra Leone - posting on social media the whole time. There he crafted a new life as a saviour of Freetown’s slums. But is there another, darker motive for Walker’s second act? Learn more about your ad choi…

1
I Grill Author Rob Firing While He Barbecues Steak 19:21

2M ago19:21

19:21

Calling all-day trippers and barbecue lovers! Ross and I took a road trip last month around Lake Ontario via Kingston and Rochester. A highlight of our five-day tour was the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que lunch in Rochester. We ordered Sweetheart Deal for Two ($41 U.S.) - the full rack of ribs and four sides. The tender, smoky ribs were succulent and divine - …

1
El Chapo's Sons Built a Fentanyl Empire: Los Chapitos 49:56

2M ago49:56

49:56

With El Chapo locked up in a supermax prison and never going home, there's been a battle to maintain the power of his feared Sinaloa cartel. Many thought his sons, groomed to take his place, would falter. Seen mostly as spoiled rich kid "narco juniors" who possessed neither the intelligence nor the strength to outmaneuver older, more experienced dr…

1
The Deadliest Biker War in History: Hells Angels vs Rock Machine 52:27

2M ago52:27

52:27

In the mid 90's, the Quebec Hells Angels made an offer to every drug trafficking organization in Montreal: buy from us or die. The Rock Machine motorcycle club refused to bend the knee, allying with a secretive group of business owner drug dealer money launderers known as the Dark Circle. What followed was 8 years of unparalleled violence, resultin…

1
The Meth SuperCartels Destroying Tropical Paradise 43:52

3M ago43:52

43:52

For years the Pacific region, and its tiny, tropical nations, steered clear of the global meth and cocaine trade. But politics, war and wild profit margins have pushed ships and planes out from Latin America to Australia across a new ‘drug highway.’ The phenomenon is prompting mass murder, crippling governments, and creating a wave of addiction whe…

1
How the Hells Angels Became Canada's Most Powerful Crime Family 48:22

3M ago48:22

48:22

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club first chapter emerged in the US in the 1940's but didn't reach Canada until 1977. Less than 20 years later, they would be neck deep in the bloodiest motorcycle gang war ever fought as the Quebec chapter sought to monopolize the cocaine trade, utilizing car bombs and death squads to turn the city of Montreal into a w…

1
Judith Jones, Julia Child’s Editor, Talks About her Dear Friend 9:54

3M ago9:54

9:54

The new biography on the life of book editor Judith Jones is having its moment in the literary spotlight. Judith, who died in 2017 at 93, was a publishing pioneer. She rescued "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" from the publisher's rejection pile and famously collaborated with Julia Child. In 2012, I visited Judith Jones at her Upper East Side…

1
El Salvador's War on MS-13: Nayib Bukele Goes Hard 55:47

3M ago55:47

55:47

Since 2019, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has smashed the country’s two main gangs, MS-13 and Barrio 18, throwing almost 80,000 people into megaprisons and implementing a harsh but effective “state of exception,” aka martial law. Murder rates have plummeted and, for the first time in years, Salvadorans can live without the fear of violence, ext…

1
India's Gangster Assassins Are Running Wild 40:30

4M ago40:30

40:30

When hitmen shot dead Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver last June, Canadian cops blamed the government of India’s strongman leader Narendra Modi. Subsequent assassination plots in NYC, the UK and Germany have pointed at two men. One is India’s most notorious mobster. The other is its most decorated spy, a man whose undercover ops—an…

1
The Most Corrupt NYPD Detective & His Mafia Uncle w/Steve Fishman 45:58

4M ago45:58

45:58

Louis Sarcella might be one of the most corrupt NYPD detectives ever, though he was once heralded as a master at getting confessions on homicides. A slick dressing, tough talking cigar smoker who could bench 400 pounds, he got such a good reputation that he was invited on the Dr. Phil show. But while he was waging a war on the streets, his uncle, N…

1
The Gangster Warlords of Haiti's Collapse with Jason Motlagh 44:08

4M ago44:08

44:08

Haiti's gangs have effectively taken over the country, plunging into chaos and violence as warring gangster warlords like the infamous Barbeque fight for territorial control. In February gangs stormed police stations, shot up the airport and freed thousands of prisoners after storming the country's biggest prisons, causing a humanitarian crisis. Th…

1
El Mayo: The Undisputed King of Mexico & the Betrayal of El Chapo 42:46

4M ago42:46

42:46

In the late 2000's, the Mexico government put together a list of dozens of Narco kingpins it wanted to bring down. Only one name from that list is not imprisoned or dead, and still sitting stop the Mexican cartel world: El Mayo. Nearing 80, he's never so much as been arrested despite co-founding and then co-leading the Sinaloa cartel for decades. L…

1
El Chapo's Boss & The Most Powerful Kingpin in Mexico: El Mayo 49:16

5M ago49:16

49:16

Everyone knows El Chapo, the infamous leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, one time most powerful kingpin that Mexico has ever seen. The man who revolutionized the Mexican cartels' drug trade. But...what if he never actually was at the top of the food chain? Some have long suspected that the head of the Sinaloa cartel has always been Ismael Zambada Garcia…

1
Andrew Tate & the Romanian Mob: A Match Made in Criminal Heaven 52:07

5M ago52:07

52:07

With influencer and living meme Andrew Tate about to face trial in Romania, we dive into his connections to a powerful pair of Mafia brothers and their casino empire—and how the Tates pivoted from MMA to a gang that has terrorized the European nation for years. We also go deep on the history of Romanian organized crime, from Ponzi schemes to ATM sk…

1
The Most Dangerous Russian Mobster America Has Ever Known: Boris Nayfeld 57:53

5M ago57:53

57:53

Boris Nayfeld's life is like something out of a movie; orphaned in the former Soviet Union, he served time in a brutal penal colony before establishing himself as a top tier street criminal before escaping for America. No stranger to violence, he got involved in the burgeoning Russian mafia factions rising up in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach during the…

1
The Rise and Fall of Golden Triangle Dope: From a Jailed Kingpin to a Casino Shootout 43:08

5M ago43:08

43:08

Lo Hsing Han was a Burmese narco so powerful that Richard Nixon called him a Godfather. But the Kokang king tried one too many shady deals, sending the Golden Triangle’s heroin industry on a helter-skelter path toward a bloody, 2023 shootout with Chinese cops—at a lawless casino town on the edge of nowhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m…

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